Tropical Rainforests - Biodiversity

- The warm and wet climate means dead material is decomposed quickly by fungi and bacteria on the forest floor

- Plants pass on theur nutrients when eaten by animals. 

- Changes to the rainforest e.g. people reducing tree cover by deforestation can change the climate

- Trees also intercept and take up lots of water and release it back through transpiration. Deforestation means a higher risk of drought, affecting plants and animals that live in the ecosystems

- Biodiversity is the varitey of organisms living in a particular area, both plants and animals

- Rainforests have a high biodiversity (contain 50% of the worlds plant, animal and insect species)

- Many organisms have evolved to depend on a small specific area for survival

- Deforestation abd uncontrolled development lead to extinction and loss of biodiversity

- Endangered species in Brazil increased from 218 in 1989 to 628 in 2008